


Evangeline

by Rissa_rarity



Category: Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Abuse, Brendon Urie bully, Brendon is a bully, Brendon is a vampire, Crush, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Mikey Way - Freeform, Mild eating disorder?, Poverty, Slow Burn, Vampire AU, Vampire Brendon, Vampire Brendon Urie, Vampire Mate, Vampires, bloodlines, bullied, gerard way - Freeform, half vampire, high school vampire au, patrick stump - Freeform, pete wentz - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:33:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22342621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rissa_rarity/pseuds/Rissa_rarity
Summary: Pure vampires: Are BORN vampires – parents usually being two pure or a pure and a half. Two halves is rare but not unheard of. A pure and human or pure and half results in a half, or 50/50 chance of half or pure respectively. Usually, a pure and half – their first child will be pure, the second is half. Pure vamps grow and learn quickly, though they have poor emotional control as children and their immense strength often results in a fatality during fits. They get stronger with time or start off pretty strong based on bloodline.Please leave a kudos if you enjoy :)Half vampires: actually a vague term. Anyone with any amount of vampire genetics (that isnt pure) is considered a “Halfy”  but some take after their human side more, others the vampire side – pures don’t usually know much about their half counterparts, considering it unimportantManufactured vampires: Born human but turned by pure vampires. They are slightly weaker than the pures but much stronger than the halves. They are looked down upon. They can be controlled by their maker or a pure of a strong bloodline.Wealth/jobs is closely related to bloodline strength.
Relationships: Brendon Urie/Original Female Character(s), Mikey Way/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 7





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> This is Evangeline: https://as1.ftcdn.net/jpg/01/09/94/10/500_F_109941095_XzBogH2jB5wlXj52KmFi1Q6emVXfxzkK.jpg

Evangeline stood by her locker, getting her books out while yawning – her tiny fangs glinting under the florescent lights. She rolled her shoulders a little after closing it, feeling the tightness from work the night before. Just as she turned to head to her first class, she felt a shove that sent her left shoulder slamming into the locker next to hers.

“Move it.” Grunted Brendon as he passed by close to her even though the hall wasn’t crowded.

Her books clattered to the floor, some of her classmates purposely went around but others just trampled them. She knelt, making sure her dress stayed down and carefully started snatching up the items only pausing when a boot covered foot stamped down on her hand that had nearly reached her last folder. She looked up to see Spencer Smith, her bully’s best friend smirk down at her as she whimpered before he kept walking.

The blonde gathered her things and stood up, rubbing her hand that now sported a red imprint of his shoe and jogged to class, arriving just before the bell went off.

Luckily, her first class went by peacefully since none of her bullies were in it. All was well until lunch.

She was headed back to her bench alone with her food when Brendon’s scent of cinnamon and mint hit her nose just a moment before her tray was smacked out of her hands and to the floor. “You don’t need that, fatass.” He sneered.

Lina frowned and turned away but he grabbed her wrist harshly, yanking her back and not letting go. He glared down at her as she tried to pull free but he only held tighter.

“L-let go.” She tried to sound brave but in fact both sounded and looked like she was about to cry. The pure vampire squeezed more, now able to feel her bone struggle under his grip that was far from full force.

“Don’t walk away when I’m talking to you.” He growled, making her cast her eyes down submissively as they were taught to do as children when a pure vampire was angry with you.

“Be grateful I’m helping you. You’ll never find your mate looking like _this.”_ With his free hand, he gave a firm but not full strength punch to her flat stomach. She gasped as half the wind was knocked out of her, hunching a little due to pain, a last effort she tried to push him away with her right hand but it was like a child pushing on a brick wall.

In a blink he grabbed her other wrist too, squeezing it just as hard as the other he still held. “Don’t ever, touch me again.” He hissed, “Now quit being a little bitch and listen.”

No one looked in their direction; an unspoken rule among vampires was ‘mind your fuckin business’ and almost no one dared to not abide by it.

Lina cowered in his hold, looking down at his pristine doc martins with teary eyes. “Mr. Anderson is assigning class partners for the year and Spencer told me I’m stuck with YOU. So you are gonna get me A’s…got it?” she didn’t answer, only whimpered.

He bared his fangs and let go of her right wrist to grab her jaw and force her to look up at him, he quick movement making her tears cascade down her cheeks. “I said, got it?” his eyes turned deep red and black veins appeared under his eyes, terrifying her.

“Y-yes.” She spoke quietly, jaw aching.

“Yes what?”

Lina hesitated, “Y-yes, Brendon.”

The veins faded away and his eyes returned to normal, menacing snarl turning into a smirk. “Good.” He let go of her other wrist and jaw, patting her cheek lightly before walking over to his lunch table.

The Halfy blinked after him for a moment as she rubbed her bruising wrists, heading to the bathroom to look at her jaw. Seeing only a few dots where his fingertips dug into her a little, she turned on the sink and entered one of the stalls where she sat on the floor and cried, flinching as her stomach twinged in pain.

Two classes later, she entered Mr. Andersons Vampire History class wearing her jacket to cover her slightly swollen wrists. Brendon’s finger marks on her jaw had faded away, thankfully.

Lina sat in her normal seat fiddling with her fingers as more of her classmates shuffled in. She was dreading the partner assignment. Spencer was Mr. Anderson’s nephew so he could find out anything about class he wanted, so she was positive he was correct.

She sat stiffly as the teacher entered and pulled a paper out of the folder he was holding. “As you all know, I believe strongly that we, as vampires, are stronger together than divided. So this year, partner assignments this year will be pure’s and halves.”

The class murmured a little, not everyone was pleased but no one spoke up.

The blonde pulled her hair over her shoulders to hide her face a little as he began calling out the groups. Sure enough, “Brendon Urie and Evangeline Bell.” She sunk lower in her seat as Mr. Anderson finished up the groups and asked the partners to sit next to each other, telling them to pick somewhere comfortable because that would be their seat for the rest of the year.

The halfy beside Lina offered a reassuring smile before standing to go sit beside her partner; Brendon came from the back row and took her seat.

“Hi.” He greeted. She tucked her chin and didn’t spare him a glance. Brendon glared and kicked her ankle under her desk.

The girl peaked over at him, “Hi, Brendon.” She spoke softly, her acknowledgement eased his glare and he turned his attention back to the teacher. The very same day, they were given their first project. They both had to write an essay about influential vampires of the 17th century, then combine the best parts of each and turn in the finished product. 

Brendon bounced his leg as he worked on his essay, messily scribbling down a draft while Lina began with an outline and bullet pointed ideas, with dashes for added details. With twenty minuets till the end of class, he decided his draft was good enough so he doodled on his paper, occasionally glancing over at his partner.

Like all halfy’s, she was prettier than a human but paled in comparison to pure vampire females. Those were the ones Brendon preferred, but he could admit Lina was a bit better looking than other halfy’s, in his opinion, though perhaps a bit too thin. She had no idea what pure males said about her, never noticed the looks she got when she sat alone reading. That was part of why Brendon treated her how he did, by targeting her the others would leave her alone. Some of the pure’s liked her TOO much and it made Brendon anxious for her innocence he could smell she still possessed. In the eyes of pure vampires, Lina was Brendon’s ‘prey’ and therefore off limits. No one was going to step to a Urie.

He watched her push her golden waves behind her ear and lean into her hand as she filled in her bullet points while chewing her lip lightly with her cute, tiny fang. He smirked a little and returned his attention to his doodle.


	2. Two

Seniors took a separate health class from the younger students with a more in depth lesson plan to teach them more about their own biology, genetics, child rearing and about soulmate bonds – something that interested the halfy’s much more than the pure. For the second half of the class, the pure and half’s would go to different classrooms and be taught by one of their own about their kind specifically.

During the first half of class, their teacher was a halfy himself. He had only been a teacher for a few years and by vampire standards was still young, so he had yet to find his pure vampire mate to turn him. Mr. Stevens was tall with kind yet masculine features, muscular frame, nearly black hair with hazel eyes.

“You all know the term ‘half- vampire’ is a loose one.” He began, writing things down swiftly on the board for the class to copy into their notes, though few of them did. “While being 50/50 is normal for us, some favor one side more than the other. It’s hard to determine the exact percentage, but it’s fairly easy to make an educated guess by: appearance, if a person has more…” he cleared his throat, “vampric features,” he avoided saying _attractive_ so as to not make anyone feel bad, “fang size is a pretty basic one, as well as vampiric traits like speed, strength and healing capabilities.” His dry erase marker flew across the white board as he continued writing the points down. “Personality can also be affected by the amount of vampire blood a person has. It’s no secret that pure’s are more dominant and aggressive, whereas a half that favors their human genetics tend to be soft spoken and compliant. One hint you pure’s can pick up on is scent- if they smell more like a vampire or a human.”

Mr. Stevens turned to the class, “Now can anyone tell me what side I favor and why you think so?”

A pure female raised her hand, he called on her. “Your vampire side, because you wrote the notes down very quickly and you have longer fangs than others I’ve seen.”

“Correct.” He smiled, showing his fangs that dwarfed Lina’s but were dwarfed themselves by pures. “I also inherited my fathers speed and agility.”

The lesson went on a bit more in depth, Brendon wasn’t really listening until the class was asked to stand up for an exercise. The halfy’s in the class were lined up against the wall for the pure’s pop quiz, inspecting them and guessing what each classmate was more of. The halfy’s already knew, of course, so they had turned their self-assessment in over the summer just for this.

The Pure’s went down the line, looking at their peers through a microscope and jotting down their name and guess. Lina got increasingly uncomfortable as Spencer and Brendon made their way down the line toward her. She fiddled with her jacket sleeves as Spencer stepped in front of her. Lina met his stare at first, watching him scan her features then lean forward slightly to sniff her before going back to her blue eyes. He stared for a few seconds until she looked away then jotted his answer down and moved on.

Now Brendon stood in front of Lina, for once not glaring at her but _actually_ looking. She came up to his collar bone and looked at his chest as she worked up the courage to meet his eyes. Her nose was small and fairylike, skin pale and dotted with a few freckles on her cheeks, naturally thick but blonde eyelashes. He assessed the rest of her body quickly, unable to help but notice her chest was bigger than he’d have thought, and that she was softly rubbing her left wrist. Her dress was navy blue and halter neck, stopping at her shins. She wore old black on black converse on her rather small feet.

His chocolate gaze returned to her eyes, in moments she cast hers to the floor as she had earlier. When he leaned in closer to scent her, she tilted her head slightly to the side – showing submission to him as she had before but to a stronger degree after his inspection. He recalled that she hadn’t done this for any other pure that’d scented her.

While he took in her scent of lavender and old books, her nose picked up on his cinnamon and mint one that made the hair on her jacket covered arms stand on end as her instincts warned her to be cautious.

She’d been trained to recognize his scent usually came with pain.

Brendon had to say, she smelled very good – better than the rest of the halfys. He wrote his guess beside her name on his paper and moved on to the next one. As the next Pure stepped in front of Lina, she thought about how that was the most stressful twenty seconds of her life and did her best to avoid thoughts of all the horrible things she assumed he thought of her after his critique.

“Alright,” the teacher said once all the papers had been handed in. “You’ll get your grade tomorrow. Mr. Pine will be in shortly to take the pure’s for the second half of class.” Just as he finished speaking, the door opened and the pure vampire teacher entered did just as had been said. Mr. Stevens had the halfy’s read a couple of pages from their textbook while he graded the ‘quiz’.

\--

The last class of the day- another she shared with Brendon, was study hall. She sat in the far corner of the class room working on her essay while most of the other students talked and hung out with each other. The studious ones clustered around Lina since it was the quietest place in the room.

Brendon was sitting with the others of his kind laughing loudly as his leg bounced under the desk. They paid each other no mind until he tripped her on the way out when school was done. “I totally got you right in health class. You’re so human.” He laughed as she picked up her books for the second time that day, sporting the bruise on her hand that had formed since Spencer stepped on her hand that morning, her sleeves moved up a bit as she reached, showing part of the hand shaped bruise on her right wrist.

After he’d laughed, Brendon thought no more of her and headed for his locker.


	3. Three

The next day was fairly peaceful, she hadn’t seen or smelled Brendon OR Spencer all day. She made it to her lunch spot with her tray in hand and munched on a few carrot sticks with ranch until her hair stood on end again as an unwelcome scent wafted over moments before her tray was ,again, swiped onto the floor.

Brendon bent down to be eye level with her, “We talked about this didn’t we?” he raised his eye brows, telling her she better answer and answer properly.

“Yes, Brendon.” She lowered her eyes to his chest.

“Don’t let it happen again.” He snarled, then slapped a paper down on in front of her – his essay draft. “Remember,” he seized her jaw again and made her look at him, “Get me A’s.” he have it a squeeze before turning and heading to his friend group.

After taking a deep breath and moving her jaw a little she took out a fresh sheet of paper and revised what he’d written. His hand writing was a little messy but perfectly legible, otherwise. His essay wasn’t great or even good, but it wasn’t _awful._ Lina understood why he was pressuring her so much to get him good grades…he wasn’t doing too hot.

She was glad he left her alone after that until Health class.

While the Pure vampires received their graded pop quizzes, the halves got a paper telling them what the majority of the guesses for them were. Not who guessed what of course.

Lina wasn’t at all surprised to see that ALL of her pure classmates guessed her accurately – primarily human. Mr. Stevens let the class discuss the results while he decorated his desk, a few people were standing and moving around their room to compare with others.

Brendon walked up to her desk and looked down at her paper, getting her attention with a snicker. “Yeah, it’s pretty obvious with you.” He then went to chat up a pure girl nearby, heading back to his desk shortly with her number written on a paper. Lina lowered her head as he walked by her again on the way.

In study hall, Lina went to the library to do some more research for their paper, taking notes. She used the school’s headphones to listen to music as she did so, filling her ears with Queen.

She was so invested in the music and studying she didn’t notice the familiar scent until the seat next to her pulled out quickly, and someone sat down. Brendon could year what she was listening to and found himself listening as well for a bit before he announced himself by tapping her shoulder. She visibly flinched as she looked over at him, taking off one of the ear phones.

“H-hi Brendon.”

“See? That wasn’t so bad.” He turned his attention to her computer screen for a second. “Did you go over my paper?”

“Y-yeah, I did.” She opened her binder and took it out along with her revisions on a separate paper.

He picked up her revision and read through it, taking a bit longer to read it than he should have since he had to re-read a paragraph or two having not remembered anything he’d read.

Lina returned to her research in the meantime so he wouldn’t feel rushed. “Good notes.” He said when he was finished, adding the papers to his own binder to type up and print for the merge.

“D-do you wanna read wh-…”

Brendon raised his eye brows and waited for her to finish.

“What I have so far?” she looked over at him timidly.

“Nah, you got this. You’re doing the final paper too.” He gathered his stuff and left after giving her a slightly dizzying smack to the side of the head.

She closed her eyes for a moment with her forehead in her hand before returning to her work.

\--The end of the school day, the day they turned in their combined paper.

Lina rushed home as fast as her legs could take her without running, Brendon noticed her speed by as he unlocked his car – a black Mercedes- and raised his eye brows as he couldn’t help but watch her hips swing until she was out of sight.

Several hours later, Brendon entered a local diner across town and sat at a small table while he waited for the wait staff to come by. He grabbed a menu from the holder on his table and looked it over. His head perked up at the sound of melodic laughter coming from the kitchen, after a moment a blonde waitress with her hair in a French braid came out with a tray of food, still giggling a little before going over to a table near him with a genuine smile still on her face.

He listened to her converse with the patrons, then she passed by him to return to the kitchen leaving the scent of lavender and old books in her wake.

_Lina?_

She returned from the kitchen and noticed him. Her smile faded and a forced one replaced it as she pulled her notepad and pen from her apron and went over to him.

“Hey! I-I’m Lina and I’ll be taking care of you. Can I start y-you off with a drink?” He noticed how she was struggling to keep her customer service persona on with him, he could hear her pulse quicken with mild fear. She knew he wouldn’t bother her here. With all the other Pure’s around, he’d be horribly outnumbered.

He also knew she was right.

A few of what he assumed to be her regulars had also noticed the change in her when speaking to him, and were watching the interaction from the corner of their eyes. Clearly she was well liked here.

Lina nervously tugged the sleeve of her cardigan down over her left wrist, having also noticed their gaze on her.

“AB Positive, please.” He ordered the most expensive they had without hesitation.

She wrote it down, trying to not show her surprise at his politeness. “I’ll be right back with t-that for you.” Another forced smile and she retreated to the kitchen, deliberately walking a little slower than she wanted so she didn’t look as nervous as she felt. Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, the sight…even the SCENT of him made her instincts raise the alarm.

As the halfy disappeared through the swinging door, the other pures turned their attention away. Brendon looked down at the table and focused his hearing, pushing past the idle chatter of those around him to hear the kitchen – a skill he’d gotten from his bloodline.

It wasn’t difficult to pick her soft voice out from the rabble.

_“I’m fine, Patrick. Just tired is all.”_

_“You shouldn’t keep overworking yourself.” A soft male voice answered her, clinking a few glasses together as he put them away._

_“I’ve been doing it for years, I think I’m used to it.” Brendon assumed she’d tried to give the other halfy a reassuring smile._

_“It’s that guy out there, isn’t it? Your heart’s been beating like a hummingbird since you saw him in your section – and not in a good way.” A slightly deeper voice belonging to a Pure vampire butted in._

_“He’s just some asshole from school.” She pretended to blow it off._

_Brendon’s mouth quirked up a little at that word coming from her mouth, he’d never heard her swear._

_“Okay well, if he gives you trouble you let me know. I’ll kick his ass fair and square.”_

_“Pete, he’s a Urie.”_

_No one spoke for a moment, making the Urie in question give a cocky smirk he hid behind his menu._

_“He’s still a teen. I can take a young Urie.” But he didn’t sound super confident._

Brendon then smelled the warm liquid of life come closer as Lina pushed open the door with her hip and set the cup down in front of him along with a thick black straw.

“Have you decided?” she asked, forcing herself to meet his dark eyes with her sapphire ones – again trying to not appear anxious.

“I’d like a terryakki burger with fries, rare.”

Lina wrote it down, deliberately breathing slowly to keep her body calm. Brendon looked over her shoulder to see who he assumed was Pete watching like a protective father. He flashed the other vampire a smirk. “I’ll get that right in for you.”

Brendon held back a dirty joke and instead winked at Pete as she walked away feeling good as the others eyes visibly darkened but he looked away.


	4. Four

The next morning at school, Lina was dreading seeing Brendon again. She was positive he’d say something about seeing her at work. She got her stuff from her locker as quickly as she could, hoping to get away without seeing him until Vampire History.

Of course, life never really went her way.

She was exhausted from how busy “The Fangtastic Diner” was last night, her feet were more sore than usual, her arms hurt from carrying trays and her cheeks hurt from plastering a smile on her face for hours but life wasn’t going to stop for her to take a break.

Just as the halfy was thinking about the fastest route to her first class, cinnamon and mint hit her nose. She braced herself just as she was shoved against a locker, pain shooting through her shoulder. “Watch it, s _ervant,_ or I’ll dock your tip next time.”

Her soft lips turned down as she watched Brendon and Spencer pass and mix in with the rest of the students. She shook her head and went to class.

During lunch, she sat alone with only a bottle of water and rumbling stomach. Her eyes snapped up just in time to see Brendon coming towards her. For a moment, she considered trying to escape to the bathroom but she knew that would just make him angry so she ducked her head down, letting her hair hide her face.

Lina couldn’t hold back her flinch as Brendon sat across from her at the picnic table. He looked at her expectantly until she got the message.

“H-hello, Brendon.” Her eyes flicked up to his for a moment.

He rolled his eyes and suddenly reached toward her face, she whimpered and pulled back – expecting pain. But he only pushed her hair behind her ear, smirking as her cheeks turned pink.

“I’m not surprised no guy has ever done that- you’re nothing special.” He snorted, making her drop her chin but he seized it quickly and made her look at him. “I’m not threatening you, so fucking look at me.”

His tight grip on her chin certainly felt like a threat, if you asked her.

After a few seconds of her meeting his gaze he let go of her, she remained in the same position.

“We got an A on our last project, Spencer says we’re getting another today so you better not fuck this up.” The brown in his eyes brightened a little to have a red tint – a warning.

“I w-won’t.”

He tilted his head to the side, “That doesn’t sound very confident.”

Lina sat up, and cleared her throat a little. “I won’t.”

“Good.” He flashed her a fanged smile for a moment before turning serious again. “If you do, you’ll be what’s served to me the next time I go to your little diner job.”

He was bluffing of course; it was severely frowned upon for a vampire to feed from a halfy that wasn’t their mate – except under extreme circumstances- especially if they were unwilling. It would drag his family name through the mud.

Not that she knew that.

“I understand.” She struggled to speak clearly, instincts screaming at her to look away.

Brendon sat there for another moment, listening to her heart hammer in her chest until he heard her stomach growl. He glanced at her water bottle, smirked then headed back to his own table.

-

Sure enough in Vampire History, they were given another partner assignment. “This one I had to get your parent’s permission to give. There’s a reason I made the partner groups Half and Pure, AND a reason if you get an A on this assignment it’s worth an extra test grade in both my class, AND your respective biology classes as there will be a bit of science to this.”

He had the entire classes’ attention now.

“Due the nature of this assignment, you may also opt out HOWEVER it will hurt your overall class grade. As you all know while bloodlines do affect a vampire’s strength, it also grows with age. For halfys, it’s about percentage of vampire DNA they have. For this assignment, you’re going to trace your family back at least three generations and include an estimate on their genetics. I understand this’ll be easier for some of you than others.” He eyed the Pure’s in the room who seemed pleased with themselves, “you will BOTH have to prick your finger and examine your own and your partners samples under a microscope. Write a compare and contrast essay on your findings. Halfys will also have a sheet to ”

The Pure’s weren’t too interested; the halves were excited and curious – except for Lina. After Brendon’s threat today, she really didn’t want him anywhere near her with a wound.

He glanced over at her as she shifted apprehensively and smirked a little – amused. Being of a strong bloodline himself, he usually would have opted out but he needed that grade AND the bonus value it held. If she didn’t want to prick her finger, he’d do it anyway.

“We’ll work on this project in class for two days. Today is a planning day in here where you’ll write out the first part of your lab report, then a day with Mr. Walters in his PV biology class where you’ll do the pricking and the rest of that portion of the assignment. After that, it’s between you and your partner to finish the essay. And make sure it’s handed in to me by this time next week.”

Mr. Anderson handed out the papers for the assignment.

Lina wrote her name on the paper then frowned a little at the line under it that said PARTNER NAME. She wrote _Brendon Urie_ as she chewed on her lip anxiously.

“Hey.”

She looked up at him, releasing her lip and meeting his eyes.

“What’s your last name, anyway?”

The halfy deadpanned; her bully for YEARS didn’t know her LAST NAME? They’d had classes together since they met and it was said when the partners were announced not long ago!

She then realized he was still starring at her silently. “Bell.”

He nodded and wrote it on the partner line. They barely talked for the rest of class as they filled out the first half of their lab sheets.

Later in studyhall, Lina was reading a book and drinking water when Brendon plopped down in front of her again.

“H-hi, Brendon.”

“Sup nerd.” He grinned, pulling his own lab out – barely filled in. “I need your answers.”

“I think w-were supposed to do that part on our own. We might not h-have the same hypothesis and part of the point is to show that you learned something.” Her breath caught in her throat as she watched black veins appear under his darkening eyes.

“I’m going to give you once chance to give me your lab. Or I’ll tear all your shit to shreds looking for it.” His voice was almost a growl.

Lina hastily pulled her paper out and let him snatch it from her hand. His face returned to normal as he copied her answers. She fidgeted with her thin fingers until he was done.

Before Brendon left, he reached out grabbed her right pointer finger, spraining it in a second flat. She gave a small cry of pain, tears leaping to her eyes immediately. 

“Next time, just do what I say.” He sounded bored as she cradled her hand to her chest, finger swelling already. After he left, she went to the school’s nurse who gave her a knowing look and gave her a finger splint. She’d been working at the school long enough to know the only person in the school that would do this to sweet Evangeline Bell, but the ‘keep your fuckin mouth shut’ rule was also obeyed by school officals as long as no one’s life was at stake and no one was bitten.

The blonde was given medicine to help with the swelling and sent to her next class after she calmed down. Her eyes were still puffy in Vampire History when she took her seat. After Mr. Anderson took attendance, he sent the class to Mr. Walters PV bio class room.

They sat at the marble lab tables with their partner while the teacher gave his instructions and explained the equipment on the table. Brendon bounced his leg under the desk while Lina sat still, trying to be as invisible as possible.

Before she knew it, they were ready for the finger prick. Brendon did it without hesitation and let his blood drip onto the slide, putting the cover over it and licking his finger to stop the bleeding.

Lina slowly picked up her pin with her left hand and looked at her right pointer and middle fingers that were strapped together. Her pointer was swollen and bruised.

Brendon rolled his eyes, took the pin from her and jabbed her left index finger, she gave a sharp inhale but collected herself quickly enough to get it on the slide that Brendon covered for her. Even through the multiple scents of blood in the room, hers was distinctive to him – he chalked it up to how human she was.

Lina held a paper towel over her bleeding finger, but it quickly was soaked through. Other Pure’s in the room began to glance back at the strong aroma, Mr. Walters glared at the students who’s attention she’d unwittingly gotten then nodded to Brendon who rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand, making her drop the paper towel.

Brendon licked the pin prick on her finger and the bleeding stopped immediately. Her cheeks flamed, eyes wide as he let go. He didn’t acknowledge her shock, but did wait until all of the other Pure’s went back to their work before he placed his slide under the microscope. He refused to think about how _delicious_ that was, he’d heard that halfy’s taste better than humans but he didn’t realize how good.

Still, the unspoken rule about feeding on a halfy that isn’t your mate was clear in his conscience. He almost hoped his mate was a halfy so he could enjoy the benefits of drinking halfy blood instead of human before he turned her. Of course he hadn’t gotten enough from her fingertip to experience any of them, just the taste alone.

Mr. Walters went around the room with a biohazard container for the pins and bloody paper towels then returned to his desk. Lina set her own slide on her microscope and took notes, noticing how her blood cells looked more like human ones than vampire ones. When they switched slides, she wasn’t surprised to see Brendon’s looked nothing like hers – not only was he a Pure but he was a high born. They were about as opposite as could be.

“…so human.” He sneered quiet enough that only she could hear as he peered at her blood. She bit her lip and pretended to not hear him, taking notes of his sample messily with her left hand. At the end of class, the slides were collected in the biohazard container to be destroyed.

During studyhall, Brendon sat with Lina as they worked on their lab. Comparing notes on their findings and outlining their essays. She struggled to write with her left hand but made it work.


	5. Five

Again, after school Brendon watched her scurry through the parking lot and down the street in a rush.

When she made it to her destination, “The fangtastic diner” she put her hair up in a high pony tail and wrapped her apron around her waist with some difficulty, glad she didn’t have much of a uniform here.

When Lina entered the kitchen to clock on, she was met with an angry Pure vampire. Pete gently took her splinted hand, eyes black with range.

“That fuckin’ kid.” He growled.

“I’ll be fine. The nurse said two weeks tops.” She tried to pull away but his grip tightened. Lina placed her small hand on his tan one, “Pete…” he met her eyes and his black sclera’s returned to normal, “I’m sorry. I…wish I could protect you. He’s been like this for years and he’s not letting up.”

“Could be worse.” She shrugged. “I appreciate how much you care, but I need to clock in now. Okay? I can’t afford to let this sprain hold me back.”

“Okay. You can always come to me if you need help or somewhere to go.” Pete released her hand and pecked her cheek before heading back to the stove.

Lina gave a small smile to his back, Pete had always been an older brother figure to her. That shift was painful on her finger from carrying trays, and it only got more swollen due to the use. Her eyes brimmed with tears that she held back for hours.

Thankfully she only had to work one of her jobs that night, so she could get home and work on her lab project.

“Lina?” Pete asked from the parking lot as she exited the diner, locking the door behind her.

“Get in. I’ll give you a ride home.” He unlocked his car.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t. But I want you. I hate that you have to walk everywhere and if I can make sure you get home safe, I WANT to.”

A smile spread across her face, then his as she headed to the passenger side.

\-- A few days later, Brendon, Spencer and a few of their friends from another school went to a different vampire only restaurant miles away from the other one. It was a bit more upscale than the other but nothing too fancy, called The Bloody Mary.

They were sat at a booth by the hostess and they talked and joked while they waited for their waitress who was busy at another table. Brendon saw a blur of blonde hair pass by quickly, a familiar scent hit his nose. He looked up quickly to see the same swing of hips he saw around the halls at school.

She works TWO jobs?

He took a whiff of the area and realized they’d been seated in her section. A smirk crossed his lips as he looked over just in time to see her recognize him and Spencer. She took a deep breath and pulled her lips up into a smile.

“Hello! I’m Evangeline and I’ll be taking care of you.” She forced a smile, making sure to keep her breathing level. This restaurant, being at a higher standard, required her to go by her full name and had a stricter dress code than the diner Brendon had seen her at last. She wore a grey button up blouse with 3’4 sleeves that struggled slightly over her chest, a knee length, high waisted pencil skirt with a ½ length white apron but she wore her normal black on black converse. Her hair was in a French braid like last time, now with a small black bow on the bottom.

“You can take care of me anytime.” Brent winked, Brendon smirked at her obvious discomfort.

She moved on, “Can I start you off with drinks? Blood? Soda?”

They all ordered blood, and she swiftly whisked herself sway and returned shortly with the glasses.

The entire time she waited on them, Brent and Jon hit on her and made crude jokes but she brushed them off with relative ease, doing her best to remain professional and polite. Despite how uncomfortable she was, Brendon saw no fear in her eyes – she knew their jests were only that, not actual threats.

Honestly, Brendon wasn’t sure if he’d permit it if they were serious but that was just a morality issue for him.

She juggled them and several other tables in her section, along with helping the cooks and other wait staff whenever she saw they needed it –even if she wasn’t asked. 

When they were done they paid, tipped normally and left. He didn’t think of her again until he saw her at school.

\--

A couple of days before the lab was due, Lina was in the computer lab before school started trying to catch up on her essay, both of her jobs had been slammed recently so she was exhausted and sore, her sprained finger still had a few days left until it would be ready to be freed from the splint.

She had an informational page pulled up, her text book open and her worksheet sat beside her. After a lot of math, she managed to finish up the last bit of her lab – making an educated guess as to what percent vampire she had in her.

She frowned at the answer she came up with: 10-20%, low even for a halfy. If her mate didn’t end up being a pure vampire, eventually her bloodline would become completely human, a great loss of vampire heritage is how it’d be seen.

Lina had no way of knowing how her life would turn out. Her entire family was halfy’s mating with other halfys and even a few humans on her father’s side. No Pure vampire blood had been in her family in a very long time. Obviously halfy’s can’t turn their mates so…by following that path you’re agreeing to be a half vampire forever.

According to her health class, most people don’t feel the mating bond until after high school. Mid 20’s was normal, but there were some exceptions of course. Even Pure’s needed time to understand their natural gifts and for their hormones to settle. She’d learned that most of the time if it was an early bond, both parties were likely Pure’s due to their strong instincts. It was likely that as a halfy with so little vampire in them, she would never feel a mating bond with anyone – even if her mate was a Pure she was probably not going to fully feel the bond until turned.

But based on her family, and bloodline she was nearly positive her mate would be another halfy. She didn’t really care to be honest, she just wanted to be loved and feel safe with someone. Some people were lucky enough to meet their mate while still in school, but she was sure she wasn’t one of those lucky few.

The frown she hadn’t realized she’d had deepened as she realized she’d have to show Brendon her results.

She packed up her things, printed her assignment and headed for her locker. Spencer walked by alone today, still upholding Brendon’s daily locker shove but with a bit more force than she was used too.

That was gonna leave a mark.


	6. Six

During lunch, she was feeling very weak and dizzy. She went out on a limb and got some food, going directly into the girls bathroom to get it eaten before Brendon showed up. When she finished, she rinsed out her mouth until her breath no longer smelled like food and hid her tray under the trash can. With her luck, he’d see her take care of the tray – and she didn’t want to imagine his reaction.

Lina went so far as to flush a toilet and wash her hands before heading back into a cafeteria where, sure enough, Brendon was sitting at her table where he always did when he visited.

The halfy took a calming breath as she walked toward him and sat down. “Hi, Brendon.” She greeted him the way he’d trained her to.

He looked at her as she settled, wringing her hands nervously in her lap, then pulled his lab out of his binder. “I just need to copy your final DNA estimate.”

Lina nodded and retrieved her lab with slightly shaking hands. Brendon could tell she was more anxious than usual, she looked almost guilty in fact, but he didn’t have time to get it out of her right now.

“I…I really think you s-“ she cut herself off as he swiped her paper and waited. “S-shouldn’t c-…” he raised his eye brows almost daring her to finish what he knew she was trying to say.

 _Shouldn’t copy. You should make your own estimate. Blah blah show you learned something._ His inner voice mimicked her nagging.

“I’m sorry, what?” he stared her down until she physically cowered and chewed on her lip. “Nevermind.” She softly cradled her recently healed finger under the table.

The pure smirked to himself then copied her estimate and reasoning word for word.

“You’re worse than I thought.” He commented as he slid her paper back over to her. “Pathetic, really.”

“…I know.” She murmured, eyes trained on the table.

“Good.”

Her heart hurt as he stood and left.

Most of his bullying was physical, she’d become used to it over the years. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she was completely pain free – be it from Brendon or from over working herself though it was both, more often than not. But it was verbal abuse that really got to her, even the smallest insult spat at her brought tears to her eyes.

She wondered what her life would have been like if her family hadn’t been evicted from their last home. If they hadn’t been in debt her entire life through no fault of her parent’s.

Could she get away with going to a human school? Would she have friends? A boyfriend? Go to the movies, the arcade, the mall?

Lina sighed, no point in dwelling on what ifs. This was her life, and it was her burden to bare.

\--

Late that night, Lina had just finished her second shift of the night and was ready to scuttle home from The Bloody Mary. It was four AM, the restaurant had closed and everyone else had gone home. She brought the last garbage bag out to the dumpster, grunting as she swung it over the edge of the metal box and dropped it in. The lid slammed closed as she pulled her thin jacket closer, thoughts of sleep clouded her mind.

She didn’t notice the manufactured vampire behind her at the other end of the building, watching her. A breeze carried her scent over to him.

He licked his lips and launched forward, slamming her into the brick wall of The Bloody Mary, covering her mouth his hand and savagely biting into her neck.

Lina gave a muffled scream as her body locked up as a response to his venom, her neck felt like someone was holding a branding iron to it.

Her blue eyes were wide, she tried to force herself to shove at him but she was paralyzed. Her heart hammered with fear for a few minuets until it began to slow as her vision began to blur.

Brendon was out for a walk, trying to get out of the house. He’d been thinking about the big project due date coming up and it’d been giving him anxiety. He was knocked out of his own thoughts as the scent of familiar blood hit his nose.

He was immediately alarmed, and followed his nose to the ally. In the dark he could see clearly what has happening. Red bloomed in his eyes as rage took over, black veins crawling down his cheeks- he acted on instinct and tore the manufactured vampire off Lina’s neck.

The halfy slid down the wall as her legs gave out, barley conscious with spots in her vision. She covered her hands with her sleeves and pressed them against the holes in her neck that hadn’t stopped bleeding.

She couldn’t make out the words her savior spat at the other vampire before crushing his chest under his foot, reducing him to dust.

Her breathing was labored as she tried to look up to see who’d protected her. Brendon knelt down in front of her with soft, concerned brown eyes. Lina’s nose told her who it was before her eyes adjusted to make out his face.

Lina tried to speak but no words came from her lips, she pressed herself closer to the wall and managed a whimper. Brendon frowned as he realized she thought he was going to pick up where the other left off.

“…No…” he shook his head, then glanced at her still bleeding neck. “But you need to let me help you or you’ll bleed out.”

Her mouth opened but only quivered, she was too shocked to speak. “Pure’s saliva makes blood clot, remember? Manufactured vampires don’t have that ability, the opposite really. You’ll keep bleeding until you run out of blood if you don’t let me help you.”

The blonde pressed her hands tighter against her throat and pulled her knees tighter to her chest.

Black veins formed under his eyes again for a moment as a growl rumbled in his chest. “I know I fuck with you at school but forcibly feeding from you is something even I wouldn’t do. Now move your hands, or I’ll move them for you.”

Lina bit her lip, fangs slightly extended due to the extent of her blood loss. In someone as human as her, Brendon knew it was a very bad sign.

“Fine.” He hissed, pulling her hands away from her neck with ease, they fell to her lap weakly. He assessed her injury, cursing the deceased monstrosity’s overly aggressive and messy technique. The scent of her blood surrounded them but in all honestly he felt no desire at all to feed from her.

His deep rooted instinct to protect halfy’s guided his actions. Funny given the usual way he treated Lina – this was an instinct even he didn’t know he had.

Brendon leaned forward and licked her wound, furrowing his eye brows as he felt the burn on his tongue from the manufactured vampires left over venom. He then started licking up the blood that had dripped down onto her collar bone and gotten smeared around the bite.

Lina’s body relaxed as the MV’s venom was removed, her head fell to the side to give Brendon more room – an instinct of her own. His to help her, and hers to accept it.

When he finished, he softly touched her cheek and got her to sit up and look at him. Her skin had a grey tint, bags had formed under her eyes and she had the faintest of black veins on her eye bags.

Brendon gave an annoyed sigh and bit his own wrist, holding it up to her mouth.

“N-no.” her voice was barely audible.

“I’m not happy about this either but it’ll make me look bad if you die, so-“ he forced his wrist against her soft lips and held her jaw so his blood slid down her throat. She never took a pull but was too weak to resist. He gave her seven seconds before taking it away and licking it to seal the bite.

Brendon watched her skin regain its normal color and her fangs retract to their normal, tiny size. Skin covered the bite on her neck leaving only a scar he could barely see.

Bites from MV’s leave scars on Halfy’s because they weren’t meant to happen, MV’s don’t have mates and are unable to reproduce so they are only supposed to drink human blood.

On Lina’s end, she felt better than she had in years. Her sore muscles felt better, she no longer felt exhausted and she actually felt like she could run all the way home for the heck of it.

Brendon noticed a subconscious smile start to cross her face as she registered this new feeling. The smile fell instantly as he slammed his hand onto the wall right beside her face. She met his eyes.

“If you tell anyone about this, you’ll regret it.”

“Who would I tell? I don’t have any friends.” _You’ve made sure of that._

The pure growled as he heard her thought. It was temporary side effect of having given her his blood that would stop when it passed through her system and would only work when they where near each other.

“ I did what any pure would do, and I had no control over it so don’t expect anything to change between us.”

“I understand.” _Too good to be true, I’m not THAT naïve._

“Go home.” He commanded, standing up to tower over her.

Lina pushed off the ground to stand up and was surprised she was able to get up that fast without feeling dizzy.

Brendon held back a small frown at her realization and turned his back to her, continuing his walk as if nothing had happened.


	7. Seven

Sure enough the next Monday she received her shove against the lockers as Brendon and Spencer walked by.

During her Poetry class, she felt herself get pelted with a few papers. Against her better judgement, she unraveled one and scrawled on it was: WHORE.

Lina frowned and trued to tug up the collar of her jacket to cover her scar. There was a negative connotation with having bite marks when you were unmated. People seemed to forget that forced bites happened, so they assumed you’d slept with someone or were what was called a ‘blood whore’. Part of why you were only supposed to be bitten by your mate was because it releases endorphins and more often than not made both of them...incredibly horny.

At the very least, a bite that was consented to should never hurt much at all. But being bitten by a MF was always agony, as was any unwilling bite.

Since the bite had scared, everyone assumed she’d slept with a manufactured vampire – that was a social no-no.

The halfy knew no one would believe her if she tried to set them straight, so she dealt with the torment that went on as the day did. She was sitting in lunch with a bottle of water reading a book when someone sat across from her. It wasn’t the scent she was familiar with but when she looked up she recognized a pure from a couple of her classes, Carter. He was good looking, like the rest of them, but a sexist jerk that made him the ugliest person to Lina.

“So…you put out? Done fucking Urie?”

“W---I….” she sputtered, dropping her book. “I’m NOT-“

“Not done fucking Urie?”

Goosebumps rose as she felt an unwelcome hand touch her thigh, he smirked, flirtatiously baring his fangs. “I don’t mind sharing.”

Her stomach churned as he tried to slide his hand up her dress, she tried to stand up but he suddenly gripped her thigh painfully- forcing her to remain still.

“L-let go of me. Leave me alone.”

“You didn’t tell that to your boytoy.” He winked, releasing a little to try to creep higher.

In an instant, her fear turned to rage. She shoved his hand away, under the table faster than he could see. “First of all, I am definitely NOT fucking Brendon- if you’d use your nose instead of being a dumbass, you’d know that.” She spat, not recognizing her own tone. “Second, if you ever touch me again you’ll be choking on your own balls.”

Lina didn’t know at the time, but her iris’ had turned red during her threat.

Carter’s eyes grew wide and he scampered away like a cockroach in the light.

The halfy breathed heavily as she felt power come to her limbs in response to the adrenaline. She felt like she could punch down a building! Like she could take on anyone in her sleep and win, unscathed. She had a sudden urge to arm wrestle someone…then remembered she didn’t have any friends so… maybe not that one.

Brendon ginned a little, having watched and listened to the display both in person and in her mind. He knew that was a reaction to his blood in her system. Her fight or flight response decided firmly on FIGHT – uncharacteristic for her. He’d _felt_ her terror at Carter’s first advance, then felt the change in her as his blood forced her to stand up for herself and gave her a moment of pure strength both mentally and physically. She wasn’t as strong as he knew she felt, but he also knew she’d never felt like that before.

Admittedly he felt a little proud of her, but he found her meekness and innocence more becoming.

And just like that, he felt her snap back to her normal self and drop her chin to hide her face with her hair as embarrassment flooded her.

 _How could I say that? WHY would I be dumb enough to not only name call a pure but to THREATON him?! That’s not me! I don’t say things like that! Where did that come from?! The power felt great for a second but…ohhhh I shouldn’t have said those things._ She nervously squeezed the fabric of her dress as she imagined Carter’s revenge.

Brendon was shocked, she’d thought of a lot of horrible things. Bad enough that he took it upon himself to listen to Carter’s conversation with his friends across the cafeteria- just like he’d done at The Fangtastic Diner.

“Damn, she really made a pussy out of you!” Josh laughed in Carter’s face.

“Fuck you!” he tossed a french fry back, but his tone was half a growl. “Fuckin bitch thinks she can say that shit to me and get away with it?” he grumbled. “I’ll show her.” Brendon could tell that while Carter was angry at Lina, he was more angry with himself for submitting to her and running off like a dog with his tail between his legs. He’d damaged his own reputation, jeopardizing his place on the pure totem pole at school.

“Dude everyone knows she’s Urie’s prey. You should just drop it.” His friend Ethan warned.

Brendon leaned casually against the wall as he listened, grin growing.

“I don’t believe in all that bloodline shit. I’ll fuck him up and make him watch as I make little Lina my bloodwhore.”

Brendon’s smirk fell instantly, eyes turning red.

Well this simply wouldn’t do. He didn’t care about Lina, but his reputation was being challenged.

Not to mention the moron was denying something they’d learned about in middle school biology, something scientifically PROVEN to be accurate.

Brendon left the lunch room, mind already buzzing with ideas to take his revenge on the other Pure for challenging his claim and his prestige.

This was going to be fun.

==

No one heard from or saw Carter for a while.


	8. Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -EXTREME VIOLENCE-

It was the day after their lab was turned in, and grades were being given today. Each partner got their own grade, then they would be averaged together to count as the test grade. Lina anxiously sat in her seat, gripping the material of the long sleeved button down shirt she’d borrowed from her dad to cover her bite scar. She’d taken to wearing homemade scarves recently but today was hot so she’d opted for this.

She loosened her grip on the hem and tightened it repeatedly as Mr. Anderson passed back the individual lab reports with the essays paperclipped to them.

Brendon tapped his pencil on the desk as he waited, staring right at his partner as he listened to the thoughts racing in her head. His blood stayed in her system longer than he’d expected, but was diluted enough that he only heard her when she was thinking loudly.

 _Come on, come on….just get it over with. Ripping off a bandaid._ He heard her stomach growl, making her release the massive shirt that hung like a dress on her and clutch it, as if she could soothe it that way. _UGH I’m so hungry. Fuck, when did I eat last? No lunch in a few months so there went my main source of food…I think…we had grilled cheese for dinner on…Tuesday? Oh, Pete gave me a free meal at work on Wednesday! It was so GOOD_. Her stomach growled again.

Her train of thought stopped as Mr. Anderson set her papers on her desk, then Brendon’s on his.

A perfect score on her lab! She looked at the essay page and saw a 98, then timidly looked over to Brendon who glared down at his lab. Lina watched black veins form under his eyes but he didn’t look at her, he was lost in his own thoughts.

Shit. When his had got wind of this grade…

\--

No sign of Brendon at school for the next two days, Spencer took up his stead but rarely physically touched Lina. Even he seemed to think of her as ‘Urie’s prey.’

It was the most easy going two days of Lina’s high school life. A girl in her halfy health class actually talked to her today! Her name was Victoria and she made pleasant small talk during an assignment that meant more to the blonde than she knew.

At the end of the school day, Lina went to her locker and was surprised to see a note fall out. For a moment, she imagined it was from a secret admirer before shaking the fantasy from her mind.

She opened it and her entire body tensed up as she read: _Go to the far soccer field after school. Or I’ll find you and make you wish you had. –B_

Her hands began to sweat and a wave of nausea hit her as her breathing became labored. The halfy grabbed her things and dashed to the nearest bathroom where she emptied her stomach of the food she’d dared have for lunch in Brendon’s absence. After rinsing out her mouth, she took a deep breath and followed the notes order – hoping the beating wouldn’t make her too late to work. The forecast called for a downpour tonight, she really didn’t want to get caught walking in it.

When she arrived, her legs hurt. Hands shaking, she hugged herself as she awaited her fate.

Lina didn’t see him coming, but her bag was torn off her back and thrown into the distance and before she could notice what happened she was seized by her neck. Her hands grabbed at the attacker’s arm as his dangerous scent wafted over to her.

“I told you to get me A’s you piece of shit! Do you know what I got on the lab?! A fucking,” she felt a blow to her stomach, knocking the wind from her lungs, “B!” another. She gasped for air as Brendon lifted her from the ground, eyes bright red with the infamous black veins down his cheeks.

“…sorry…” she managed with teary eyes.

“I warned you.” He tightened his grip, watching her eyes begin to unfocus and her tears slide down her face. Brendon tossed her like a ragdoll into the woods at the edge of the school grounds, she stopped only when she smacked into a tree, collapsing into the dirt and coughing. In a blink, his Doc Martins were in front of her and she felt a rough kick to her ribs, crying out as she felt them brake.

“I told you to get me good grades or you’d regret it. Are you regretting it yet?!” he growled, making her whimper. He used his foot to roll her onto her brusing back, “ARE YOU?!”

“…yes…” her voice was more of a wheeze than anything.

“I don’t think you are.” Brendon grabbed her by her hair and pulled her to stand, making a new wave of agony explode in her rib cage. He held her there and rammed his fist into her face until it was covered in blood, then released her – letting her fall to the ground sobbing.

He stood over her, fists clenched and nostrils flaring with rage. Without thinking, he took the rest of his anger out on her and left her unconscious on the forest floor, twisted in the wrong ways, bruised and bloody – but alive.

\--

Lina awoke slowly, body mostly numb due to the cold – teeth chattering. Her blood had crusted over her face, making it stiff. One of her eyes wouldn’t open, swollen shut.

She tried to move only to shout in pain as her entire torso and legs protested any sort of movement. She wanted to see what condition she was in but just couldn’t move. She had a headache, vision swimming and nausea like never before. The sun was only just beginning to rise, and the sky was already cloudy – ready to rain again.

The halfy began to cry again. _I’m going to die, slowly and alone in the woods._ Her small, malnourished body quivered from the chill, her clothes were wet and torn.

As her world began to fade out again, she wished someone would come. On instinct, one word passed through her split, lips “ _…Pete…”_ she begged softly just before she lost consciousness.

-

 _Pete._ Exactly then, Pete Wentz’s head snapped up from his bass.

“Lina!” he followed his protective instincts that led him straight to her in a matter of minuets. He cried a little as he saw her: filthy matted hair, covered in her own blood. Nose broken, jaw cracked, hand shaped strangulation bruises, her left wrist was bent the wrong way and very swollen, a gash in her knee along with a hyper extended shin poking through her muddied skin.

The pure dropped to his knees beside her and listened…heart beat was weak but she was still breathing. At a glance he could see her ribs were broken and pressing awkwardly against her t-shirt. He carefully lifted it to the bottom of her bust to see they were all black and blue, sporting the imprints of the bottom of a shoe.

Pete knew he couldn’t move her, and that she wouldn’t be able to go to a hospital due to her families financial troubles. He had to do this.

Her friend tore the skin off his wrist so that it blead profusely, then pushed it against her swollen lips. “Lina you have to DRINK.” He urged, not sure she could hear him but he had to try. “Drink, Lina! Drink DAMN IT!” he kept most of his blood going down her throat and watched her face return to almost normal and her skin gain a bit more color.

Instictivly, Lina’s fangs protruded and pierced Pete, making him bleed more. He sat still and let the halfy feed from him until her life threatening injuries had healed at whitch time he had to pry her freezing hands off his wrist and quickly lick his own wound to make it stop. A growl left her throat as her food was taken from her, black veins under her eyes.

The pure’s eyes were wide as he watched survival instinct click in her eyes that were now dotted with red. She slowly sat up, never taking her eyes off her prey who stood.

“Lina you’ve had enough for now. This isn’t you.”

“I…” her voice was rough but she didn’t care, “need more.” She tried to stand but collapsed with a shriek when her shin bone moved further out of her leg and blood began to creep from her knee again.

She tried to grab him from the ground but he easily stayed just out of reach, a bit weak himself after letting her feed so much. Lina gave an irritated growl and glared at her injured body for failing her.

“I’m sorry, Lina.” He waved his hand in front of her face, making her pass out – and caught her before her head hit the ground.

Pete picked her up and left the woods as it began to rain again.


	9. Nine

Brendon was glad to see she hadn’t decided to come to school the next day. Couldn’t bear to see him again, no doubt. Weak little pathetic bitch- cowering away.

It wasn’t until her third day of absence he began to suspect that wasn’t the case. He actually began to WORRY.

At the end of the school day, he made a b-line for the area he’d left her in. He could smell her blood in the air, but she was nowhere to be found.

“ Something must have got her during the storm.” He shrugged and headed to his car, trying to ignore the tiny bit of guilt in his heart.

\--

“Please let me go to work tonight, Pete. I can’t keep calling in.” Lina begged from Pete’s couch, where she’d been staying since he’d brought her to his home, since it was a safer neighborhood and her parents were never home long enough to take care of her in her current state.

For the next few days, he’d let her feed from him until she insisted human blood would be enough. She was reluctant to take his offer but he’d begged her with his eyes. Pete was terrified he was going to lose her, and she was terrified of dying- so she agreed.

His blood wasn’t nearly as potent as Brendon’s, due to the bloodline difference, but it was healing her much faster than only human would have. They never spoke of it, but both of them knew if he hadn’t fed her in the woods she would have died of her injuries and hypothermia.

Unlike the fridge at home, Pete’s was always fairly stocked with human blood bags. Of course he was a pure, so he needed more. Being able to afford blood was a luxury most halfy families struggled with, they did need it to survive but if they didn’t have any for too long they would get sick and weak. Lina often went without for as long as she could to keep her parents strong enough to work the long hours they had to. 

“And I’d like to go home after work, I think I’m ready to go back to school.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done Pete. You saw me at my worst and gave so much…literally…for me. “ her eyes grew teary as she spoke. “You saved my life Pete. I’ll always be grateful for that and it means… _so much_ …” her tears slipped down her cheeks and he immediately pulled her into a hug.

“You’re so welcome. I’d do anything to keep you safe Lina- you’re the little sister I never had. If you ever need me, I’ll be there. I promise.”

\--

As soon as Brendon entered the school the next day, he immediately noticed her scent and was taken back for a moment. His brown eyes instantly scanned the crowded hall and landed on her. She was at her locker like nothing had happened – wearing ripped jeans and an oversized long sleeve black shirt.

Seeing her look back to normal after how she’d looked the last time he’d seen her…

He felt a twinge of guilt in his chest as his mind recalled exactly how she’d looked after he lost it on her.

A few days later she seemed okay…maybe she HAD gotten the vampire trait of healing quickly, he thought.

As he watched her push her hair behind one of her ears, the opposite side the manufactured had bitten, he felt…. _relieved_ to see her again.

Brendon shook it off- dismissing the feeling before heading towards her and giving her his traditional morning shove to show her nothing had changed between them. He refused to let himself feel guilty anymore, she was clearly fine now so why care?

He didn’t kill her so there was no issue, in his opinion.

\--

Things went back to normal for a while. Months passed and she made sure to get him the A’s he demanded.


	10. Ten

Things went back to normal for a while. Months passed and she made sure to get him the A’s he demanded.

\--

One day while in her math class, the pure’s began to get sluggish. No one seemed to notice until one of them collapsed on the floor- then another and another seconds after. Soon, all of them were unconscious, as well as the teacher. The halfys tried to check on them but all were out cold – but alive.

Lina looked up from the face of the pure girl she’d been trying to rouse when several loud explosions went off, shaking the entire school like an earthquake.

The halfy’s screamed and hid under their desks as ceiling tiles began to fall, light fixtures dropped loose and dangled from the ceiling. Soon after, some of the vampire favoring halfys began to feel dizzy and the entire class stumbled toward the door. When it was opened, they saw thick black smoke filled the air. Their eyes stung as the class shoved each other to get through and try to find their way around to find an exit.

“There’s a bunch of fires…we have to-” coughed one of the vampire favoring halfy’s, before his vision got blurry and he joined the pile of unconscious students on the cracked floor. Lina wiped her watering eyes and realized most of the smoke wasn’t smoke at all- it was a gas. An odorless gas had been pumped through the school’s ventilation shafts, the explosions seemed to have come from the back of the building where the pure only classes were held.

Some of the human favoring halfy’s tried to pull their friends from the rubble and out of the area but Lina was too afraid to move. She was jostled side to side as more halfy’s flooded the halls, most screaming and crying.

“Come on!” someone shoved her as they breathed through their shirt, breaking her trancelike state. She followed the mob down the stairs and outside where a group had already formed – almost no pure vampires were with them.

Lina watched as the flames grew and began to swallow more of the school, the group moved farther away to escape the gas that was now leaking out from broken windows and open doors.

“Brendon!” a panicked voice shouted over the murmurs and sobs of the other students. “Has anyone seen Brendon?!”

She looked over to see an ash dusted Spencer looking all over. “Brendon!” The blonde had never seen that look on him before- terror and worry. He was weakened and drowsy himself but kept frantically looking for his friend.

“Has anyone seen Brendon?! He was in the pure science lab! Brendon?!”

All of the sudden, without knowing why, Lina found herself bolting back into the school and heading toward the science wing. It was hard to see through the smoke as she got closer, fumes from the burning building assaulted her sensitive nose but she didn’t feel sick or faint like everyone else.

In fact, the burning in her eyes and unpleasant stench were the only issues she was having at the moment. Whoever did this was after the Pures, for sure. With her being mostly human, the gas didn’t really affect her.

But the fire sure could.

Lina tripped on a few bodies and ducked under fallen light fixtures as she tried to navigate the halls, coughing a little as she reached the door of the Pure science classroom. Like her parents taught her, she quickly touched the doorknob and found it to be warm but not hot – likely from the heat that was moving down the hall from the nearby flames. She opened it and entered, “Brendon?!” she called but received no answer.

Thinking fast, she dropped to her hands and knees to crawl under the smoke. A few yards away she could sort of see a collapsed figure she still could recognize as Brendon. When she made it over to him, she wiped her eyes and rolled him over to look at his face. He was pale as a sheet, his lips were chapped and all visible skin was covered in black veins, but he was alive – though barely.

The halfy grabbed him under his arms and began to drag him over the debris and toward the door, now seeing the light from the incoming fire to her right. She had to move fast.

She grunted with strain as she pulled them through the doorway, hearing the roaring flames getting closer.

Her coughing got worse as she dragged him over her fallen classmates, pulling as hard as she could to lift him over the obstacles. A crack in the ceiling spread quickly, and in seconds the tiles above them fell. Moving faster than ever before, Lina dropped Brendon’s head onto a pile of rubble and got on her hands and knees over it – taking the force of the tiles on her own back while protecting his body.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to pull him out of the way fast enough so this was her only option. Lina cried out at the impact that bruised her but afterward went back to her former position and kept pulling.

Her body screamed at the over exertion but she didn’t give up until she’d gotten him out and far from the gas – away from the other students, some of whom had already fled.

Lina pulled him across the field to the far corner of the school’s land, and leaned him up against a tree. “Should be far enough.” She said to herself as she knelt beside him and tapped his face. “Brendon?”

No response.

Dark circles had formed under his eyes, fangs so elongated they were touching his lower lip. He was covered in ash and his skin tone nearly matched it, he was ice cold to the touch. She took a deep breath and straddled his waist, pushing her hair over her shoulder and pulling his head into her neck.

“Brendon you have to drink.” She pressed his cracking lips against her skin. “Come on. It’s okay. It’s okay Brendon, you can bite me. You have to.” Her tone morphed into a begging one.

She pushed his lips harder against her and tilted her head more. “It’s okay Brendon. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

His eyes fluttered open a little, bright crimson and he felt her warm flesh against his mouth. _“It’s okay…it’s okay Brendon. Bite me.”_ He immediately knew who it was. Though he could barely hear her, her consent was clear. He sank his fangs into her throat.

Lina gasped at the prick but other than that, it didn’t hurt at all – in fact it gave her a calming feeling. “There you go.” She cradled the back of his head and pet his hair soothingly. “You’re gonna be okay.” She cooed, feeling him take harder pulls as his survival instinct drove him to do what he had to. Soon, his hands grasped her hips and held her in place – not that she had made any attempt to move.

Primitive growls and grunts came from him as he continued to drink, but she was unfazed. “You’ll be okay.” She continued to say, still softly caressing the back of his head.

On the other side of the school, Spencer caught his friend’s scent carried by a breeze and followed it – shocked at what he saw.

Brendon was sitting up against a tree, legs straight and covered in soot. Lina was sitting on his lap, a leg on either side of his, knees bent. He was aggressively feeding from her and she was… _encouraging_ him.

She was _feeding_ him.

She was _saving_ him.

Spencer stared and watched for a while, hearing her continue to assure Brendon that the situation was fine and that he’d be alright – though he didn’t seem to be hearing her at the moment.

The black veins that had spidered across his skin faded away, and his skin gained color. Lina’s posture slumped little as she grew light headed – as soon as it did Brendon released her hips and leaned back from her neck after licking the bite to seal it.

His eyes were mostly brown again, only small flecks of dark red dotted them – his fangs returned to their normal size. The pure just looked at her for a moment, really looking.

Her hair had a silvery tint due to the ash, some drywall pieces were stuck in it as well, and were spread around her soot covered clothes. Her face was smudged with black and she had a small cut on her cheek bone that bled slightly.

Maybe it was due to all her blood in his system but he thought she looked _angelic._

Lina raised her head a little to look at him too; his usually perfectly styled hair was disheveled and glittered a little in the sunlight for the same reason as hers, but his face was much more covered in filth from the ordeal.

Suddenly feeling like he was intruding, Spencer returned to the mob of students, police, ambulances and fire trucks that had arrived by now.

The two stared at each other for what felt like forever until he said something she never thought she’d hear from him.

“Thank you.”

She gave him a weak smile, wobbling a little while trying to stay upright. To her surprise, Brendon softly pushed on her shoulder blade and coaxed her to lay forward to rest against his torso. He kept his hand there and watched more emergency vehicles arrive in the distance as she began to snore softly.


	11. Eleven

“Just a few days ago, an attack on the local high school, A Lucard Academy, was launched. An undetectable noxious gas was released through the air vents, immobilizing and killing some of the vampire students – pure _and_ vampire favoring halfys- as well as a few members of the faculty. Most were rendered unconscious, those that were exposed too long perished due to it’s effects. Several bombs were detonated in the back of the school where the Pure classes were held, killing several more in rapid succession. Rescue workers responded as quickly as they could and were able to save a fair number of the victims, but one hundred thirty six deaths have been confirmed.” The news reporter struggled to remain professional as her eyes teared up while speaking.

“Police speculate the attack was perpetrated by a terrorist group of humans in an attempt to lower the numbers of pure vampires, or to test a new weapon. They have no suspects at this time but if you have any tips, _please_ call the anonymous tip line at-“ Brendon turned off the TV and rubbed his temples.

He’d been isolating himself from everyone after his brush with death. He knew that had Lina not returned for him, he would have been number one thirty seven on the death toll. Most of the high bred vampire students were among the numbers – the stronger the blood, the stronger they were affected by the gas.

Even his best friend didn’t dare go in after him.

But why did Lina? What would drive her to run into a burning building and get him out? He’d never done anything nice for her. He’d never been anything but a bully to her, taking out his frustrations on her whenever he had them or sometimes he’d mess with her out of boredom. She had no reason to risk her life for him- and more than that to actually care enough to let him feed from her.

He could have killed her by accident, she knew that. But still, she took the risk.

For him.

Why?

\--

Lina had a lot more free time since school had obviously been canceled. Her parents were unable to take time off to spend with her, but she understood it was for the best.

She caught up on sleep, picked up more shifts, spent time with Pete and Patrick and resumed her old passion – playing piano. It was a bit out of tune and the bench was a little unstable but it still sounded beautiful. It had been in her family for generations and was the one item her parents had always refused to sell, and for that she was grateful.

The piano brought our something in her she hadn’t felt in a long time – true joy. Music flowed through the air, brightening up the cold, dilapidated home she lived in. A smile spread across her face as she watched her fingers dance across the keys like she’d never stopped.

She didn’t have any sheet music but she didn’t need it. When she ran out of memorized pieces she simply played whatever she felt.

It felt so _good._

\--

A Pure vampire only construction company rebuilt the school in a month, with upgraded security and cameras as well as a human detector that would alert the guards if no vampire DNA was detected.

The first day back, the entire school was called to the auditorium for a memorial service for the victims of the attack the media called, “The A Lucard Massacre”

Lina awkwardly stood with a group of halfys, crying as the principal gave a speech. All around her, people were hugging, sobbing or just watching with teary eyes.

Her chest hurt as she listened, lip quivering and her hands were balled into fists as she tried to keep it together the best she could.

Not too far away, Brendon could feel her emotions pouring off her. He assumed it was because of how much of her blood he had taken. He was also very aware of her location at all times, a new thing to him but again – must be from all her blood in his system.

Before he knew it he found himself at her side, looking down at her slightly shaking form. He put his arm around her boney shoulders and she immediately leaned into him and cried into his shirt.

In a way, he felt like he owed her. He certainly did. But also he did it without thinking about it, it was like his body responded to her distress on its own. 

It wasn’t unheard of for a Pure to have the instinct to comfort a halfy in extreme emotional turmoil, but he had never felt the desire to do it before. The fact that he was responding to Lina was weird too.

Gotta be the blood.

Yeah.

The blood.


	12. Twelve

A few days later, Lina was at her locker first thing in the morning. Her muscles tensed as cinnamon and mint wafted by – only to disappear among the students. She stood in awe and watched Brendon until she could no longer see him.

That was the first time in YEARS he hadn’t shoved her in the morning. A subconscious smile spread across her lips for a moment before she turned back to her locker.

At lunch, Lina sat with a water bottle and her nose in a book. A light clatter made her look up to see a tray of food in front of her and Brendon walking away as if nothing had happened. She eagerly slid it toward her and dug in, feeling her headache fade and slight dizziness subside as time went on.

Across the cafeteria, Brendon could feel his own headache fade in unison and he felt her surprise and joy in the back of his mind.

\--

In health class they noticed two new pure’s, ones as high bred as Brendon, or perhaps a bit higher – Gerard and Mikey Way.

The class looked at them whenever they thought they could get away with it, mostly at Gerard who’d already chatted up a pure girl a bit before class. His fraternal twin, only minuets younger, was much more stoic and reserved. His eyes were wide, sitting above his aristocratic nose and full lips.

He looked up at Lina who gasped a little and looked down, a blush forming on her pale cheeks, making Mikey smile just for a fraction of a second.

Brendon noticed, and rolled his eyes – immediately taking a dislike to Mikey and Gerard by extension.

When the pure’s left the room to go to their PV health class, Mikey made sure to walk by Lina to catch her scent. What he didn’t know was that she also got his- fresh rain and lemon.

As he left the room, his eye brows furrowed a little as he registered the scent of a somewhat recent bite alongside her purity scent, someone of a weaker bloodline wouldn’t have been able to notice it. Mikey was a bit confused as he followed his fellow pure classmates to the next portion of class.

Days went by peacefully for Lina. Brendon let her be and only spoke to her when necessary in Vampire History. One day at lunch, another tray sat across from Lina, the person had a scent she wasn’t familiar with. Looking up she was met with the vampire favoring halfy that had talked to her once in class during Brendon’s absence.

“Hey. I don’t know if you remember me, I’m Victoria Lennox.” Her hazel eyes were soft, wavy collar bone length chocolate hair framed her beautiful face.

“Y-yeah, I remember you. What’s up?”

“I noticed Brendon’s been leaving you alone so…I thought maybe we could hangout sometime. I really enjoyed our conversation that day and I noticed you spend a lot of time alone.” Her eyes grew wide for a moment, “Oh! That didn’t come out right.” She rubbed her temples.

Lina giggled, “I know what you meant. And yeah, it’d be nice to have someone to talk to.”

Across the cafeteria, Brendon could feel her excitement and joy as he listened to their idle conversation.

-

A few days later, Victoria introduced her to her friend Frank- who had been out of town with his family during the attack. The next thing she knew, she began sitting with Victoria, Frank and Franks friends that had just transferred; None other than Gerard and Mikey way.

Gerard loved to joke and laugh with the group but Mikey was more reserved, though when he did smile it always made Lina’s grow.

One day, the halfy’s made there way over to their friend’s table where they’d already begun eating. Lina sat beside Victoria with Frank on her other side, across from the Way brothers.

Lina was quiet today, and didn’t really partake in the conversations at the table. Only Mikey seemed to notice her glance down at her food then away a few times, opting for her water bottle instead.

 _“You don’t need that, fatass. You’ll never find your mate looking like this.”_ Brendon’s sneer echoed in her head every time she considered taking a nibble. She glanced up at Mikey who was looking at Frank- she wanted to impress him so this was the way it had to be. She was too fat, Brendon said so himself. And if one boy thinks that, they all must.

She looked through her hair at the beautiful Victoria who was mid laugh at a joke Frank had made, and frowned a little as she looked away at nothing in particular.

Brendon watched the scene through her eyes, hearing her thoughts as they came. He frowned from the other side of the room as he felt her stomach ache but she continued to ignore it ‘for the best.’ It pained him to see her memory of him slapping her tray away and saying those awful things to her. At the time, doing it made him feel powerful, but being on the other side was something he never really thought about.

He’d done this to her.

His crazy need for control was hurting her even when he wasn’t physically near her. He was hurting her even now, despite the fact that he’d steered clear of her since the fire. He felt…horrible.

Brendon decided then he needed to fix this before it went too far. He owed her his life, he couldn’t let her allow herself to waste away. She seemed half gone as it was, already.

He looked over at her table of friends, eyes landing on Frank. He was truly a halfy, 50/50. Should be easy enough.

Feeling eyes on him, the pure shifted his eyes to meet the one on the other end; Mikey. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Brendon looked away first, not wanting to start a fight. This wasn’t the time.

Lina followed Mikey’s gaze, seeing Brendon across the room looking at the floor. She subconsciously moved a little closer to Victoria.

 _Please don’t go back to hurting me. Things are getting better. I have FRIEND’S. Don’t make me loose them. Please._ She begged.

Brendon looked up at her immediately, she thought that _to_ him if only accidentally.

_I won’t._

She jumped a little as she heard his response in her head moments before he left the cafeteria.

Mikey raised his eye brow having watched the exchange but, of course, hearing none of it. Frank’s foot stopped tapping for a moment, the resumed again.

“You should try the pasta, Lina. They put a little blood in the sauce and it’s so good!” he shoveled more into his mouth.

“Oh uh…” she looked down at her food then to Mikey for a moment – seeing he, too, was watching her. “Okay, s-sure. Smells good.” She swirled her fork in the noodles, getting a normal bite size amount and ate it.

Almost at once her headache began to fade, she couldn’t stop herself from finishing it as lunch went on- feeling like each bite took her farther and farther from the life she wanted.


	13. Thirteen

“Hey Lina!” She looked over to see little Frank jogging down the hall toward her, then tall Mikey calmly following him.

She shouldered her backpack and turned to him. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to know if you wanted to hangout today, we all could go see a movie or something. Gerard and Victoria have art club but they can meet us at the mall after.”

Her smile fell a little, “I can’t. I have to get to work.”

“Where do you work?”

“Today? The Bloody Mary.”

Mikey’s eye brows rose as Frank smiled, “Faaaancy.”

“It doesn’t open till 6 so I have time to walk there.”

“I can give you a ride, if you want.” Mikey offered.

“I like to walk, honestly.” She really did, it gave her peaceful time to recoup after the school day with Brendon, though he’d noticeably backed off since the fire. He even seemed to be trying to be…nice to her.

“We’ll walk with you then!” Frank beamed, looping his arm with her thinner one. Her smile returned as she headed out of the school with her friends.

Brendon watched the trio head down the sidewalk, listening to her cute giggle at something Frank had said but not missing how she glanced over at Mikey to see his smile. The pure’s small smile turned into a hard line as irritation came over him.

…but why?

As he watched them shrink in the distance he began to wonder if he should try to befriend Lina. Maybe he was upset because he was used to interacting with her and he hadn’t been lately. He was a creature of habit, that could be why he got annoyed when she looked at Mikey.

But how should he go about it? He’d been nothing but awful to her for literally years…why would she give him a second chance?

Hell knows he doesn’t deserve one. He rolled his eyes at his own thought and got in his car.

“Maybe for the same reason she went back in after me.” He didn’t know why that was, but maybe she didn’t hate him like she should.

No, not Lina. Sweet Lina was unable to hate anyone, even a blind man could see that after talking to her.

“… _Sweet_ Lina?” he questioned himself aloud before shaking his head and heading home.

\--

The next day, Brendon paid close attention to her whereabouts in the school. He had no way of knowing if she would be alone but his uncanny ability to sense her hadn’t faded like he thought it would.

He waited until she was at her locker and excused himself from his own class to head down to talk to her.

When he saw her rummaging through her things he felt his anxiety start getting to him but he pushed passed it and headed over to her. As soon as his scent hit her nose, her eyes darted over to him.

“…Hello Brendon.”

_“H-hello, Brendon.” Her eyes flicked up to his for a moment._

_He rolled his eyes and suddenly reached toward her face, she whimpered and pulled back – expecting pain._

The pure’s lips turned down for a moment at the memory, “Hey Lina uh…I wanted to talk to you. Uh…” he scratched the back of his neck, looking down for a moment. When he looked back to her face, her eye brows had knit together a bit.

“I wanted to…tell you that…I’m sorry.”

The words rang in her head and her binder and books clattered to the floor. “W-what?”

“I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done and said to you over the years. You didn’t deserve any of it and I was taking things out on you because I didn’t know how to…cope.”

The halfy met his eyes now, concern showing in her softened features. “Cope…with what?”

“It’s personal.” He spat, immediately regretting his tone. He sighed, and looked down again, “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

She knelt and gathered her things before standing up and closing her locker quickly, trying to leave the conversation.

“But,” she stopped mid step at the single word he uttered.

“Maybe we can talk about it someday. I’m not… _ready._ ”

The blonde slowly turned back around to face him, reading his features.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me, and I don’t deserve it.” His chest felt tight as he spoke, “I don’t know if it’s possible, but I’d like to…start over. I don’t want to be that guy anymore, I want…”

“Want what?”

“I want…to be your friend. I won’t ever do anything to hurt you again, I promise. Even if you say no, and want me to stay away from you, I swear, I will _never_ hurt you again. If you want me to leave you alone from now on just say the word.” His chocolate eyes glistened with tears, sincerity could be heard in his voice.

He patiently waited for her response, feeling his hands sweating, stomach in knots.

“I don’t think I can forgive you…” his face fell, “yet.” He looked back up, hopeful.

“But I do think…we can give friendship a try.” A beaming smile broke across Brendon’s face, making a small one grow on hers.

Lina was skeptical at first, but he was behaving in a way she’d never seen before. He kept looking down and even refused to meet her eyes a few times. He was…submitting to her. The fact that it was subconscious proved to her he really meant everything he’d said. He was giving her control over how things would be between them.

Something in her _knew_ she could trust him.

So she did, deep down at least.


	14. Fourteen

That day at lunch, she pulled Victoria into the girls room and told her everything he’d said. It felt so good to have someone to talk to, not to mention the fact that Victoria was the only one who knew how Brendon treated her up until recently.

Lina made her promise not to tell anyone, not even their friends. She really believed Brendon wanted a second chance and she doubted the boys would let him in the _same room_ as her if they knew.

That moment in the hall she saw him all dressed up and naked, showing her that he needed someone to talk to as well – someone who wasn’t Spencer or his Pure friends from the other school. Someone who could _listen._ And she wanted to be there for him when he was ready, even if she didn’t fully understand why.

\--

As the girls sat down with their lunch, joining the boys, Lina glanced around the cafeteria looking for Brendon.

Her friends ate and chatted away until she finally saw him leave the lunch line with his tray. To his surprise, she waved him over with a small, slightly nervous smile on her face.

Victoria’s eye brows rose for a moment as the pure came over and sat beside her. Her enhanced vision noticed the halfy scoot over a bit to put more space between them and tense up a little.

“Brendon Urie! I wondered when we’d meet you.” Gerard, who’d noticed none of this, smiled and held out his hand.

“Gerard Way. This is my brother Mikey.”

They shook hands and exchanged pleasantries for a moment before Brendon introduced himself to the rest of the table, though Victoria already knew _of_ him.

“You didn’t tell us you were friends with a Urie! Our parents work together- in different departments – but the same company.”

Lina forced a convincing laugh, “He usually hangs out with his friend Spencer. We haven’t hung out in a while. It feels like a good time to reconnect.” She shrugged.

“Spencer Smith?” Mikey asked.

Brendon nodded, “You know him?”

“We went to elementary school together, he might not remember me though.”

“Mikey was always the quiet kid.” Gerard mussed up his brothers hair, earning him a half hearted glare. “But now that we’re older, he can pass for the ‘strong silent type’ and chicks dig that. No worries man!”

“I’m not _worried_ , Gerard, but thanks for the half assed reassurance.”

“Any time baby bro.”

The Way boys stared at each other before breaking into laughter. Brendon noticed how Lina looked only at Mikey, and smiled a little herself. Over lunch, Brendon hit it off with Gerard and Frank while Mikey and Victoria remained polite but distant.

-

Brendon made casual conversation in Vampire History as often as he could, managing to make her laugh a few times. It was only the first day but he felt like he was off to a good start. After school he saw Lina, Mikey and Frank heading for the door and he jogged up to them.

“Hey guys, where are you headed to?”

“We’re walking Lina to work at The Bloody Mary.” Frank chipped in.

“That’s across town. I can give you a ride.”

Lina opened her mouth but Mikey spoke first, “She prefers to walk. I offered yesterday.”

“Oh.” They were quiet for a moment. “Can I come with?”

Mikey looked to Lina to decide, watching her think it over before offering a half-hearted smile. “Sure.”

For a moment there, Brendon was worried she’d say no. He really wanted their friendship to work, and she seemed to be trying to give him a chance. He wasn’t going to ruin it.

He smiled, “Cool.”

The restaurant didn’t open until later, giving her time to walk there and maybe see if she could get the cook to make her a quick meal before they opened. The head chef at The Bloody Mary wasn’t as nice as Pete but he was a good guy under a gruff exterior.

They chatted until they were about half way there and Lina’s hunger was getting to her. Brendon’s eyes snapped over to her face, he could instinctually feel her needs.

“Let’s stop somewhere and get a bite to eat.” He suggested, inwardly flinching at his word choice. Unaware of what occurred between them, Frank laughed and the other pure remained silent.

Just as Lina went to say she’d get something at work, her stomach growled cutting her short. No one noticed Mikey’s eye brows raise, looking at Brendon for a moment.

Her heart sank, wallet feeling very light in her pocket.

“My treat!” Brendon smiled, knowing she must work two jobs for a reason. As human as she was, he knew her parents must have very little vampire in them as well- not in high demand in the job market. While he had never been to her home or even seen her parents, he was sure she worked to help her parents support the family. And he certainly owed it to her after how many meals she’d missed because of him.

Her hands began to sweat as she thought about how to play this off. She couldn’t say she wasn’t hungry since her stomach growl ratted her out.

“M-maybe a snack.”

“Sweet!” Frank beamed, walking with a bounce in his step.

They found a little diner on the way soon were sitting on the patio with their food. The boys all got burgers and fries while Lina opted for a salad with no cheese that she ate three quarters of and downed two full glasses of water, claiming the walk had made her thirsty so no one would question it.

Brendon paid for everyone’s meal, as promised, and they were on their way again- still with plenty of time to get to The Bloody Mary.

They stopped at a Vampire only public park and took turns on the swings for a bit, talking, laughing and having fun before they left for their final stop.

When they arrived, Frank immediately gave Lina a hug. Mikey gave her a loose, one armed hug. Brendon went for a smile and nod -finding himself wishing she’d accept a hug from him. But that was a long way off, and he respected her boundaries.

He would wait forever for her friendship, if he had to.


End file.
